Look ahead to Portland Thorns

Hello Courage Country! We’re gearing up for another away match, this time against a very different Portland Thorns team than the one we beat earlier this season.

The USWNT won two friendlies, with two more next month before heading to the Paris Olympics.

Exciting stuff, so here we go!

Look ahead: Courage v. Portland Thorns

When we last faced the Portland Thorns on April 13, we posted a 2-0 victory against them. Portland was struggling with its worst start in franchise history.

Three days later, the Thorns announced head coach Mike Norris would take a new technical role focused on scouting, acquisition and player development. Rob Gale was named interim head coach, with the team planning an international search for a permanent replacement.

And … now Gale is likely a strong contender for the job. Portland immediately went on a six-game winning streak. The team climbed from the bottom of the table to third place, before falling last week in an away match against Orlando. Portland is ranked 4th now.

Last month, Shane Hoffman published a terrific profile of Gale in OregonLive (subscription required, but you can get a free 7-day trial without a credit card and read the article). In just over a year, he’s had to deal with acclimating to life on the West Coast after moving from New York; cancer treatments; and now stepping unexpectedly into this role as head coach midseason.

Gale has earned serious player buy-in. And, as you know from our previous coverage, the Thorns have a lot of young talent that Gale seems uniquely able to motivate. It’s also hard to draw tactical conclusions from the Orlando matchup, considering Barbra Banda scored two first-half goals against the Thorns.

In short, between our away match struggles and Portland’s resurgence, we’ll have to be in top form to win this match.

Courage news and updates

• Defender Kaleigh Kurtz has now set the NWSL record for number of consecutive minutes played, an incredible achievement. She gave a classy shout-out to Chicago’s Sam Staab on X:

• We have the Courage’s final lineup for The Soccer Tournament, the 7v7 tournament for a $1m prize. Club Ambassador Jessica McDonald put together a great squad. Their first match will be this Friday, June 7, at 9:30a against Burnley FC Women’s side. I’ll be there in person, say hello! You can also watch online here (free registration required).

• The Courage published the second part of a profile of midfielder Brianna Pinto, detailing her efforts to improve the soccer ecosystem. The first part, which takes a look at her soccer career, can be found here.

• The She Scores Bangers pod did an interview with left back Feli Rauch.

Around the league and beyond

• Crain’s Business is reporting Cleveland Soccer Group will make a serious bid for NWSL expansion (subscription required).

• USWNT won two friendlies against South Korea, both shutouts. Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy played in last night’s match, with an absolutely epic save in the first half. Enjoy it:

• Matt Hartman at The Assembly asks if the long reign of UNC women’s soccer is over. It’s a thoroughly researched story documenting a lot of departures throughout the past few years, including new (but ultimately inconclusive) reporting on allegations against former coach Alex Kimball.

• The USL Super League unveiled its 2024-25 schedule and single elimination playoff structure. Making history as the first team to play in the league will be the Carolina Ascent, in a match against DC Power FC. The Ascent host the match in Charlotte on Aug. 17.

• Data viz wizard (data vizard?) Alison Gale did a fun infographic showing playing time so far for the 2024 draft picks. As you’d expect, the expansion sides feature draft picks heavily, but there are some surprises, too!

That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: [email protected].

– Trevor

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